Day: October 14, 2018

Tag: Mystery Blogger Award (Take 6)

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I was recently nominated by Jamsu for the Mystery Blogger Award! This means that it’s time to come up with some more facts about myself… I’m not sure if I’m an interesting enough person for this. But, as always, thank you so much for the nomination! ❤

You can see the previous versions of this award here: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5

What is the Mystery Blogger Award?

It’s an award for amazing bloggers with ingenious posts. Their blog not only captivates; it inspires and motivates. They are one of the best out there, and they deserve every recognition they get. This award is also for bloggers who find fun and inspiration in blogging, and they do it with so much love and passion.

–Okoto Enigma

The rules for the award are:

  • Put the award logo/image on your blog.
  • Mention the creator of the award and provide a link
  • List the rules
  • Thank whoever nominated you and provide a link to their blog.
  • Tell your readers 3 things about yourself.
  • Nominate 10-20 people.
  • Notify your nominees by commenting on their blog.
  • Ask your nominees any 5 questions of your choice with one weird or funny question (specify).

Here are three things about me:

  1. I drink a lot of coffee now, but I once didn’t drink coffee for four years out of pure spite. This guy my cousin was dating told me that it was impossible to finish college without regularly drinking coffee and I wanted to prove him wrong. So I did.
  2. I just took a road trip to Tennessee with my manager and I thought it was going to be weird but it was so much fun!
  3. I’ve never once broken or sprained anything, I’ve never fainted, and I’ve never had a cavity. Nothing ever happens to me, but in this case, it’s a good thing.

5 questions from Jamsu:

1. Do you have a best friend?
I do. Oh, you wanted more information than that? Okay.

My best friend that I see on an almost daily basis is my co-worker, Rhovena. She’s one of the only people in my real life that knows about my blog and also, she’s so much fun and she’s the only person I ever actually do things with.

My best friend that I hardly ever see that I’ve known forever is Brigitta. She loves books as much as I do, or maybe more, because she sometimes reads eight or ten books at a time. In fact, when we were in middle school, she would read while she walked to school and almost die on a daily basis.

And my favorite person is Daniel, who I met through this blog and just finally after all these months met in person. (I might still be crying about how great he is.) Daniel is the actual best person I’ve ever met in my life.

2. A book character you recently fell in love with?
Kvothe from The Name of the Wind.

3. What one superpower would you like to have?
Teleportation, because, see above, my friends live far away.

4. What is the 13th book on your shelf?
Depends on which shelf we’re looking at, but the one in my immediate view right now is A Conspiracy of Stars by Olivia A. Cole.

5. What is your favorite snack?
I just had another tag ask me this! Sour Patch Kids are my favorite but I can’t keep them in my house because I’ll eat the whole bag.

Since this is my sixth time doing this tag, I’m not going to nominate anyone. If you haven’t already been nominated, please consider yourself tagged! I would love to see your answers either in the comments or in your own post. ❤

Book review: City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab

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City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab
Series: Cassidy Blake #1
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Links: Amazon • TBD • Goodreads
Publication Date: August 28, 2018
Source: Borrowed

Cassidy Blake’s parents are The Inspectres, a (somewhat inept) ghost-hunting team. But Cass herself can REALLY see ghosts. In fact, her best friend, Jacob, just happens to be one.

When The Inspectres head to ultra-haunted Edinburgh, Scotland, for their new TV show, Cass—and Jacob—come along. In Scotland, Cass is surrounded by ghosts, not all of them friendly. Then she meets Lara, a girl who can also see the dead. But Lara tells Cassidy that as an In-betweener, their job is to send ghosts permanently beyond the Veil. Cass isn’t sure about her new mission, but she does know the sinister Red Raven haunting the city doesn’t belong in her world. Cassidy’s powers will draw her into an epic fight that stretches through the worlds of the living and the dead, in order to save herself.

I couldn’t even tell you the last time I read a middle-grade book, but I love Victoria Schwab and I was looking for something quick to listen to on a road trip, so I figured this would be a good option. Also, fun fact, I’m pretty sure that everybody that attended BookCon got an ARC of this except for me, but then again, I had no idea what I was doing there.

This is going to be a pretty short review because I actually don’t have all that much to say about this book.
I thought that Cassidy was a good protagonist, although I was a little bit put off by how much she focused on being different from the popular girls at the beginning of the book. It was just so “not like other girls” and I didn’t really expect that in a middle-grade book, of all places. After she got over that, though, I really ended up liking her character.
I loved that the book was set in Edinburgh! I visited Edinburgh a couple years ago and I felt like I was right back there. I can definitely see all of these ghosts running around Edinburgh. It really was the perfect setting.
As for the actual plot, I was a little disappointed. I’m not sure if this is common for a middle-grade book since I really haven’t read any since I was in middle school, but it kind of felt like nothing actually happened for most of the book. There’s a premise, of course, and a couple things happen, but overall, I felt like it was mostly Cass just wandering around Edinburgh and talking to ghosts with very little actual plot.
I’m being a little generous with my rating because I know I’m not the target demographic for this book. As an adult book, I’d probably give it two stars, but since it’s intended for younger readers who are probably looking for very different things, I’m giving it three.
#mm18: new or old

Have you read City of Ghosts? Do you read middle-grade books?
Let’s talk in the comments!

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